Learners on the Access to Teaching and Access to Social Sciences programmes, which are pathways for adult learners to progress onto Higher Education and a wide range of careers, visited the museum recently to gain inspiration for a creative writing project. As part of their Appreciation of Literature unit, the learners had been studying DH Lawrence’s ‘The White Stocking’ and wrote stories inspired by the visit to the museum.
Lecturer Caroline Greatorex was so impressed with the work that she forwarded the stories to the Museum and they will now be available for visitors to read. Caroline Greatorex said: “The learners did a fantastic job writing these short stories and we are delighted that they will now be shared with visitors to this historic setting. Some of the stories are based upon DH Lawrence himself, his famous works and others are inspired by events in the author’s lives such as his experience of suffering from tuberculosis.”
Among the learners involved in the project was Access to Teaching learner Cinzia Corleto, who is now at the University of Derby on the Early Childhood Studies degree programme with her sights set on becoming a primary school teacher. Cinzia wrote a short fictional story about DH Lawrence and a haunted porcelain doll after seeing the toy at the museum dedicated to the writer. She said: “Teachers obviously have a lot of practical skills but I did not realise just how much I enjoyed creative writing until we did this project. It was very enjoyable and we are all looking forward to seeing some of our work at the museum.”
